Feng Zikang lightly stroked the Star River Shuttle in his hand, sighing softly. The spirit treasure still appeared dull and grayish, its original starlight completely vanished.
He tried every method, yet remained unable to penetrate the interior of the Star River Shuttle. The complex and profound restrictions barred his exploration; until all the seals were broken, there was no way to ascertain the origin power and spiritual essence of this spirit treasure.
Naturally, he couldn't know why it spontaneously used its divine ability, nor how that astonishingly powerful Fire Bird strike was triggered.
Luo Lianxin gifting him the Star River Shuttle was quite beyond Feng Zikang's expectation.
He had prepared one hundred and twenty-eight ways to keep the treasure, all of which proved useless.
"This Star River Shuttle has been with me for many years, never showing anything special. To think that in Junior Brother's hands, it unleashes such brilliant and splendid divine powers. It seems Junior Brother is the true master of this spirit treasure..."
"Moreover, Junior Brother risked his life to save me. Lianxin has nothing to repay him with..."
Feng Zikang was momentarily speechless, which spared him the need for polite refusal. Although the treasure was strange, and he still felt lingering fear, it was, after all, a sentient artifact, imbued with an immensely powerful divine ability. As long as he could grasp its mechanisms, he would naturally control it with ease.
He refused to believe that the dignified Formless Heavenly Demon couldn't contend with a mere spirit treasure.
But reality proved that, at least with his current cultivation and understanding, he could not yet unravel the secrets held within the Star River Shuttle. Fortunately, he possessed ample time and patience. He calmly tucked the Star River Shuttle into his storage pouch, saving it for future study.
What was immediately useful were the Soul Bone Sword and the Spirit Shaman Bone—two fine items.
"Top-grade!"
Feng Zikang clenched the Soul Bone Sword, instantly overjoyed.
He knew that the Soul Bone Sword left by the mutated Ghost God General was extraordinary, but he hadn't expected it to be this supreme!
It was still a Rank Two Yellow-grade magical weapon, with a slightly more ornate design, and the edge ground from bone appeared sharper. But that wasn't the main point.
The key was that the divine ability originally attached to the Soul Bone Sword, "Hundred Ghosts Devour Soul," usually only reached the second or third level. In combat, though useful, it only served as harassment against cultivators above the fourth layer of Qi Condensation; it wasn't a potent damaging ability.
But after the Ghost God General mutated, the "Hundred Ghosts Devour Soul" ability attached to this Soul Bone Sword had actually elevated to the tenth level!
A Rank Two Yellow-grade magical weapon carrying a tenth-level divine ability—this was truly staggering to hear!
Furthermore, the attached ability was the vicious "Hundred Ghosts Devour Soul," which could both confuse the enemy's senses and deliver a killing blow!
This meant that a disciple at the third layer of Qi Condensation, wielding this Soul Bone Sword, could absolutely contend head-on against mid-level disciples at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Condensation.
"What a treasure!"
For any divine ability, reaching the tenth level constituted a threshold; every ten levels brought forth new effects.
From the first to the ninth level of "Hundred Ghosts Devour Soul," it was merely a strong mental impact, causing the opponent to feel fear, confusion, and other negative emotions, while slightly nourishing oneself. But upon reaching the tenth level, besides the attack becoming more potent and fatal, it also carried the effect of blinding the opponent, stripping them of sight.
Although this technique of obscuring vision with black mist might not always succeed against cultivators of higher attainment, it was enough to cause brief confusion—a moment where life and death are decided instantly!
Originally, the mutual restraint between the killing aura of the Military School and ghostly energy would cause the efficacy of the Soul Bone Sword to be discounted by fifty percent for Military School cultivators. However, if Feng Zikang used his demonic energy to propel the sword's ghostly energy, it wouldn't drag him down; instead, they would complement each other, yielding better results than usual!
This time, acquiring treasure was truly accidental!
This magical weapon, apart from its less-than-appealing appearance, would serve him well even up to the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Condensation.
The Soul Bone Sword brought Feng Zikang immense surprise. Originally, he didn't hold high expectations for the Spirit Shaman Bone; even if it remained an ordinary item, he would have been satisfied.
But good things come in pairs. The mutated Ghost God General possessed such terrifying power that even Luo Lianxin, who was practically invincible below the Qi Condensation stage, nearly perished by its hand. How could the resulting Spirit Shaman Bone be ordinary?
"Attached divine ability: Obscuring Illusion, Seventeenth Level!"
"I've hit the jackpot!"
Feng Zikang was so delighted he nearly leaped up.
Obscuring Illusion was a commonplace Rank One Yellow-grade divine ability, said to be the very first technique taught to the inheritors of the Novelist lineage, as important to every Novelist inheritor as their sect's secret cultivation method.
This skill had no direct application; it could neither attack nor defend.
Its sole use was disguise.
It was rumored that when this common Obscuring Illusion was cultivated to its extreme, it could allow a mortal to pose as a Celestial Immortal, or a Celestial Immortal to pass as a mortal—though the latter scenario was rarer, as Celestials descending to the mortal realm usually possessed other means to conceal their cultivation.
During the Spring and Autumn period, the State of Qin mobilized its domestic cultivators, led by a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage, preparing to sneak attack the State of Jin, capture their ruler, and force them into a treaty under the city walls.
Who knew that as soon as they reached the border of Jin, they encountered a ragged old man.
That elder, seeing their fierce approach, laughed heartily and displayed boundless might, appearing to be a formidable expert at the Soul Transformation stage. With every gesture, he could shift five great mountains and stabilize the four seas, terrifying the three thousand Qin cultivators into retreating three miles, daring not to advance an inch. The plan to attack Jin naturally dissolved into nothing.
Three months later, the leading Nascent Soul expert finally learned that the person they encountered was Hong Gaozhi, an inheritor of the Novelist lineage, who at the time possessed only early-stage Golden Core cultivation. It was solely through the Obscuring Illusion ability that he managed to scare off the Nascent Soul expert.
The Nascent Soul expert was so enraged he vomited blood, yet had no way to track the man's whereabouts, leaving him utterly helpless. Too ashamed to face his peers, he sought a secluded cave and entered solitary confinement. This turn of events caused Qin's unification of the world to be delayed by a full four hundred years.
The Obscuring Illusion ability attached to the Spirit Shaman Bone, reaching the seventeenth level, even if it couldn't perfectly impersonate a Soul Transformation expert, was more than enough for Feng Zikang to masquerade as a Foundation Establishment master or completely hide his current cultivation.
This point was profoundly important to Feng Zikang!
He had always been meticulous, daring not to exert himself cultivating demonic arts for fear that his cultivation would surpass that of the Military Path, revealing demonic energy and exposing him. But with this seventeenth-level Obscuring Illusion covering him, he no longer needed to worry about his identity being revealed before he fully birthed his demonic fetus!
This accidental act of chivalry had been incredibly worthwhile!
Feng Zikang laughed out loud, the aversion he felt toward the spirit treasure diminishing somewhat.
Presenting the appearance of a virtuous swordsman while inwardly following the way of the demon—the so-called 'Martial Way utilizing the Demonic Body'—was indeed a practical method in this cultivation world!